Police beat

Westerville: Man charged with breaking into Schrock Road church

Westerville police arrested a man suspected of breaking into a church in the 400 block of East Schrock Road.

The pastor at the church reported June 15 that his office door had been kicked in sometime between June 10 and 15.

The pastor arrived at his office and noticed that his oak door had been kicked in. His office is the only one in the building that is kept locked.

Days earlier, the church's nursery director had seen a suspicious man carrying a box of books near a door of the church. When she asked him if he needed help, he said that he was donating the books.

It was later determined that the books had been taken from the pastor's office, and the nursery director contacted police to inform them of the suspect.

Sebastian V. Beckman, 19, of Elite Street in Columbus, was included in a lineup from police because he had been suspected in other burglaries in the Westerville area. The woman immediately identified Beckman as the man she had seen, police reports said.

Officers were attempting to find Beckman due to an outstanding warrant, and found his ID lying on a dirt path near the church. Beckman was arrested June 22 and charged with one count of breaking and entering, a felony.

In other recent incident reports from the Westerville Division of Police:

• Employees at an office in the 100 block of Dorchester Square South arrived to work June 17 to find someone had entered the building overnight and stolen several items.

Two iPhones, multiple computer hard drives, gift cards and other various items were missing.

Officers found two window screens from the back of the building had been removed, and assume that the burglars made entry through the windows.

Police have made no arrests and have no suspects.

• A woman's purse, wallet and cellphone were stolen from her vehicle outside a store in the 600 block of North State Street June 16.

The woman and her husband accidentally left their vehicle unlocked when they entered the store, and realized items were missing after they returned home.

A check from her purse was used shortly after to buy $211 in Visa gift cards, and the person who purchased the cards matched the couple's description of a man they had seen in the parking lot before entering the store, police reports said.